aev interactive

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

At the time, I was the president of a nonprofit professional club, where individuals can join as members.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with aev interactive.

We were trying to set up a website with membership information, pictures, and more of that nature.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

The website is set up like a database, with several different parts. There’s a history portion which contains information about the club. There’s another portion which contains membership information including pictures, who the officers are, and almost anything relating to the people who are a part of the club. It also contains an internal calendar section which we can tie things too. Overall, they developed a full service website for member usage. It was built on a WordPress platform.

What is the team dynamic?

I worked with Norman, the founder and CEO of the company.

How did you come to work with aev interactive?

Norman had been recommended to me by a colleague to do the job. I had not worked with any similar companies or freelancers prior to this experience.

How much have you invested with them?

I have invested around $2,500.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in 2015, and the engagement lasted about 6 months. The process was delayed, but not due to anything on Norman’s side. It took us awhile to get information from our members that he needed to do his job, but once he got that information the turnaround time was very quick.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The website is very functional and reliable. It’s mainly for use internally by members and requires a password to log on. It’s been a huge benefit to us having a common repository for all of our documents, history, pictures, and membership information – in that regards, it was very successful.

How did aev interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

Overall, Normal did very well. He outlined the whole process and explained to us what the timeline would be as soon we got him information to him. Things took a bit longer than expected because we didn’t get him what he needed in a timely fashion; but, as far as a project manager he laid things out well and let us know the hard deadlines he needed documents by, otherwise we would have certain delays. We typically communicated by phone and email.

What did you find most impressive about them?

I found him to be an excellent project manager and really appreciated his approach. He was very clear with the work he was doing and communicated any pending delays that would occur if we didn’t get him information by a certain date.

Are there any areas they could improve?

No, there’s nothing I can think of.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I would recommend for any project, when the project manager lays out the timeline to make sure as a client you can give him all of the deliverables required in the timeframe. We were trying to get the website up and running and didn’t really get him all the information he needed, and he did better than expected given our tardiness. I don’t have anything negative to say about the experience.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I am the marketing and sales director for AmRide, a driver-for-hire company that provides drivers to chauffeur our clients in their vehicles through both an app and a web portal.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AEV Interactive?

When I came to AmRide a year ago, I inherited the redesign of our company’s website, as well as the outside contractors who had previously been hired to complete this extensive project. Although I could tell early on that there would be some problems with this other company – with basic instructions being disregarded, for example – I saw the collaboration through to the end. Once they were finished, however, the website was virtually unusable from our end. Customers were able to have a fairly robust experience from their side, but I had no control over our content or features. The previous company had used Joomla to code the website, and that made it difficult for us to find someone to fix these extensive issues. Additionally, the previous company had incorrectly coded an integral plugin that provided all the search engine optimization (SEO) for our site, meaning that we had no functional SEO until we began our collaboration with Norman [Norman L. Lawrence, Jr., Founder and CEO of AEV Interactive].

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Their primary task was to clean up the code and fix our backend using Joomla. The design was more or less already settled, since I had very specific ideas that I had given to the previous company – it mostly needed implementation. Norman and his team were able to interpret and execute all of my instructions without needing much back-and-forth. Their work involved finessing the layout of imaging, pushing content through to templates, making individual pages responsive for mobile, among other tasks. They were able to complete tasks to my exact specifications while also maintaining the website. Thankfully, Norman was able to fix the incorrectly coded SEO plugin.

How did you come to work with AEV Interactive?

I was referred to them by our CEO, and he was referred to them by an associate. AEV Interactive was one of the few web development companies that we could find with extensive experience in Joomla.

How much have you invested with them?

Under $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

The initial three-week span of their work started in May 2017. I engaged them again in September to do additional cleanup and updating of the site, and that maintenance work is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Our SEO climb has been the biggest direct result of working with the team at AEV. Their work has allowed us to have a web presence that is reflective of our brand and services by giving us full control over content and design.

How did AEV Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

Norman has been fantastic; he responds almost immediately to any and all emails. Often, when I need to know how to implement a change within the system, he will have his team write something up and will then email it over to me with detailed, step-by-step instructions. I do not have a background in web design, so to have crystal clear directions and explanations is crucial for allowing me to effectively operate our website. Although we initially had a couple of conference calls and video meetings to do an overview of the project’s scope and specifics, we communicate primarily through email. If there was ever going to be a delay or the need to push a deadline back, they always warned us ahead of time.

What did you find most impressive about them?

AEV has made sure that everything is laid out in a neat and clean manner, and has ensured that the site works across multiple devices. That takes a lot of stress off of us, and allows us to present our business in a way that appeals the most to our desired clientele. Their communication is always timely and easy to understand. Norman has always been courteous, friendly, and willing to help, even if that means answering mundane questions. I never felt like I was bothering him in any way.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re a non-profit sisterhood of graduates of the St. Maria Goretti Girls Grammar School.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with aev?

We needed assistance creating a modern website.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

Norman [Lawrence, Founder/CEO, aev interactive] built our site from scratch using WordPress. It includes information about our organization, including past achievements and ongoing projects, as well as photo and video galleries. After a recent election, aev also updated the site to accommodate our new executive team. They continue to provide site maintenance.

How did you come to work with aev?

Norman created our previous website. I contacted him about building an updated version and found him to be very cordial.

How much have you invested with them?

Around $3,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in December 2015 and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

The website is running smoothly and users have been pleased with the results. Our success has even inspired others to rethink their own digital presence.

How did aev perform from a project management standpoint?

We communicate through email and phone. Norman is very responsive, fixing any issues that come up. While development took about 3 months, the project could have been completed quicker if not for delays on our end.

What did you find most impressive about them?

Norman is very business-oriented. He listens to our needs and takes the most efficient path for accomplishing a project’s goals.

Are there any areas they could improve?

I can’t think of anything.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

Norman accomplished every task we set. He’ll work alongside you to ensure your needs are met.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the founder of Haiku Festival. We teach children how to write poetry and promote literacy through workshops, readings, events, and our annual programs and competitions.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with AEV Interactive?

We needed our website rebuilt to be family-friendly for our users, who are predominantly children, parents, and teachers.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

I gave Norman Lawrence [Founder and CEO, AEV Interactive] design ideas and sketches to help guide him as he was rebuilding our site. One of the most significant requirements was that the site was interactive and easy to navigate for our young users. We also needed the site to be secure, as we often collect data from our users. For instance, Norman designed a form for our annual poetry competitions that allowed students to input pertinent data. We were then able to retrieve that data in a readable and organized format.

Most recently, our site has operated on WordPress technology because it tends to be more user-friendly for the site’s administrators. We’re able to run updates and make changes ourselves, as opposed to having to rely on a developer.

Is the team composition? 

We work with Norman Lawrence.

How did you come to work with AEV Interactive?

Norman has worked with my husband’s company before. We were very pleased with his work ethic and demeanor, so I decided to partner with him.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested less than $10,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We began working with Norman in 2012, and the engagement is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Not only were we able to communicate better with our users, but we had thousands more visitors than we did before Norman rebuilt the website.

How did AEV Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

Norman is able to work with different personalities, even if they’re more difficult. He’s patient and very good at anticipating people’s needs, making him a natural project manager. 

About 50% of our communication takes places via email, 25% takes place on the phone, 10-15% takes place via text, and the final 5-10% is face-to-face meetings.

What did you find most impressive about them?

We’ve worked with other companies before to help us with website-based issues and although their work was fine, we’ve found that none were as personable as Norman. We were able to form a relationship with him. He really got to know our brand, allowing him to help us meet our needs and the needs of those we serve. 

For example, Norman works diligently to update our site during off-peak hours to ensure that when our users come to the site, its up and running. Our constituents are parents, teachers, and student who have very little time in their schedule, so it’s very important to provide them with a functioning site any time they get the chance to visit. We’re able to meet that need thanks to Norman.

BACKGROUND

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I'm the owner and president of a Jamaican resort and spa.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What challenge were you trying to address with aev interactive?

We’ve had a number of websites over the years that left me unsatisfied, so I hired them to build our latest iteration.

SOLUTION

What was the scope of their involvement?

They began by presenting me with several wireframes options. We went back and forth with feedback and discussed ideas to ensure our visions aligned.

From here, they created the new site from scratch using WordPress, transferring information from the old site while still adding new content. While our previous sites were clunky and featured too many pages, aev interactive streamlined the layout. They also built a reservation functionality and made it easy to access from almost anywhere on the site.

While I’ve relied on third party SEO companies in the past, I was comfortable enough with aev interactive to assign them the task.

We’re currently installing new updates and content, and aev interactive has also provided financial consultations.

What is the team dynamic?

I work directly with Norman [Lawrence, Founder, aev interactive] but he has several people on his web development team.

How did you come to work with aev interactive?

Norman’s son got married at our resort. While he was a guest, I saw Norman constantly working on his laptop, and after a few conversations, we began to discuss my own web development needs. Having watched him work, I knew he had an excellent work ethic, so I decided to contact him.

How much have you invested with them?

We invested roughly $10,000 during the first year, and have spent between $30,000–$35,0000 in total.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together in September 2013 and our relationship is ongoing.

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

What evidence can you share that demonstrates the impact of the engagement?

Our regular site users noticed an immediate improvement. Guests told me they liked the layout and image-heavy focus, and also found it easier to navigate than previous versions.

I wasn't sure how the project would go based on my previous experiences, but I’ve been very satisfied with the results.

How did aev interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

I've never worked with anybody as punctual, prompt, and thorough as Norman. I can reach him anytime by phone, no matter the time of day, and we also communicate through text and email. If there’s ever a delay, it’s a problem on our end.

He’s also very proactive, constantly contacting me with new ideas for the website. Even if an idea won’t necessarily translate into increased revenue for him, Norman will still provide the suggestion because he cares about his clients.

What did you find most impressive about them?

The thing that sets aev interactive apart is their attention to client satisfaction. After the website was developed, we sat down together and went over each page to ensure I was happy with the layout. I haven’t had that experience with other developers.

Norman is a very effective communicator. If I have an idea, he'll mull it over and give me his honest feedback. We have a strong relationship, and I feel confident that he’ll be transparent with me in order to achieve the best end result.

I’ve worked with hundreds of people in the past, but Norman comes through in everything he does.

Are there any areas they could improve?

Nothing comes to mind. I’m never thinking of ways for aev interactive to improve; I'm always thinking of ways to keep up my end of the bargain. I just try to keep up with Norman.

Do you have any advice for potential customers?

I’ve already recommended them to a number of local businesses for website improvement. They can definitely maximize your digital presence, so give them a call.

OPPORTUNITY / CHALLENGE

What business challenge were you trying to address with AEV Interactive?

We never had a website in the past, and wanted to build one. 

SOLUTION

Please describe the scope of their involvement in greater detail.

AEV Interactive developed a website for our company. I believe that the platform used was WordPress. We didn't require anything fancy, so it's a bare-bones website. We are also using AEV Interactive for hosting.

How did you come to work with AEV Interactive?

I may have found AEV Interactive on an Oak Park, Illinois Chamber of Commerce listing.

Could you provide a sense of the size of this initiative in financial terms?

The cost of AEV Interactive's work was below $1,000. 

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working with AEV Interactive in January, 2016. [the year is not actually stated] The website has been completed over a 3-month period, and it's being maintained and updated as-needed. 

RESULTS & FEEDBACK

Could you share any statistics or metrics from this engagement?

Our site is user-friendly and our board was happy with it, so the overall result was positive.

How did AEV Interactive perform from a project management standpoint?

There were a few glitches along the way, but AEV Interactive was responsive to fixing them. We had no significant issues with the design and creation of our site. We work within the same community as AEV Interactive, so we met their team in-person.

What distinguishes AEV Interactive from other providers?

AEV Interactive was always responsive, and helped us choose elements like colors, fonts, a foundation name, and so on. AEV Interactive has also helped up update the site annually. We've had a good experience.

Is there anything AEV Interactive could have improved or done differently?

We don't hear from AEV Interactive very often, but we don't really need to.